Learning a variety of knots/lashings is a great life skill and will allow you to tie one thing to another in a Forest School setting. There are lots of knots with lots of different applications and to learn them it just need lots of practice!
It is the Level 3 Forest School Leaders responsibility to ensure any work using knots and lashings is risk/risk benefit assessed and carried out according to the appropriate safe policy & procedures.
Knots are all about joining objects together and this is also a wonderful metaphor for what learning knots can do for a group. Together they learn to explore connections.
Teaching knots in a Forest School setting does not happen in a traditional teaching style of lecture and demonstration but children are invited to experiment and play with rope and string. If and when they need adult support or are interested in learning how to create a knot in a given situation then the Forest School Leader steps in to help, guide and support.
Games and Activities to do with String/Rope
Story Books that could be used to help with teaching knots:
"Super Worm" by Julia Donaldson -get the children to pretend the rope/lashing is a worm and talk them through the different ways Super Worms gets himself into knots.
"A piece of String is a wonderful thing" By Judy Hindley
"The Invisible String" by Patrice Karst
"Charlottes Web" by E.B. White
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